I have a relatively (some would say very) addictive personality.

Some of my best friends have referred to me as "The Ultimate Fanboy". If I find something that interests me I latch onto it like a mosquito (which sucks because it reminds me of my borderline phobia of all insects). I must engorge myself on the blood of the topic, draining it dry until I simply cannot take any more.

Examples such as Marijuana, Absinthe, Buckethead, Andy McKee, and my perpetual obsession with beer come to mind. Asking me about any of these topics can be prompted by a three hour dissertation. Have an afternoon to kill? I will melt your brain with absurd detail about any of these.

Fast forward to the present.

Yesterday I read this article about 10 webcomics that are awesome but you should not give to kids (mostly because of violence and adult themes \m/ (>.<) \m/ ). Most of the comics I either already read currently or didn't interest me right off the bat; which is a must. One was different.

Questionable Content was the equivalent of Hiroshima in my mind. I spend the last 24 hours reading the entire archive.

I didn't think that anyone could have a sharper wit that Tycho Brahe until today. Jeph Jacques is the bastard offspring of a Webster's Dictionary that was raped by Jeremy Clarkson. I was looking up words every other comic. Skulduggery? Lascivious? Oh Joyous Day! The story is very well crafted, the characters evolve over time without losing their essence, and they all seem incredibly human.

Bravo.

Beyond his wordsmithing, his artwork has progressed so much in the past 6 years it is astounding.

Before I start sounding exasperated, I will leave you with my favorite moment in the entire archive:

...metal.

There is not a lot of room to argue when I say that the Simpsons isn't what it used to be.

I remember watching it when I was younger and declaring it the funniest thing on television... and for a time it was.

Now, it seems to be very dated and filled with old, corny jokes that are just not funny anymore.

But there is hope:

No, Lion-O will not be summoning the ThunderCats to stop Mumm-Ra from destroying Springfield...

Even though that would be the best thing to ever happen to the Simpsons, a close second is being orchestrated by Dean Fraser called Springfield Punx.

Springfield Punx is a part time project of Dean's where he lovingly creates "Simpsonized" versions of famous people and characters.

From Heath Ledger's Joker:



To Marty McFly:



He does it all, and it looks good.

I always have a hard time deciding on new glasses.

I usually end up looking around the optometrists office for hours at frames and end up not being able to come to a sound decision without 3rd party input.

Last time I got glasses, I ended up wishing I got a different pair. I am not saying my current ones are bad, just that I think I would have liked another pair better. What made these other frames better?

They were GREEN.

In case I haven't made this obviously clear to anyone that could have possibly found this blog:

Green is the best color in the world. If you disagree with this, you are wrong.

Getting back on topic, I was perusing some eyeglass vendors today and came to the conclusion that Oakley Prescription Frames rock. Why? Because most of them come in some sort of green tint. The most popular of which is "olive tortoise". Nice.

Here are a few that I found be particularly bad-ass:

First up is the Candidate 2.0 in Olive Tortoise. I like the slight down turned angle going towards the bridge and its pseudo-square lens shape; but the temple sweeps back really heavy and looks quite busy.



Second is the Gasket, again in Olive Tortoise. It doesn't have the slight down turn of the Candidate 2.0, but the but the bridge sits higher and the shape is even more square. The temple is much less wild too with a much smaller "O".



Third up is Shifter in plain Olive. It has both 2.0 and 4.0 revisions, but the Oakley website gives you the exact same image for both frames :-( . Looks wise, the solid color gives it a very clean look and it has the same slight down turn that the Candidate 2.0 has. The temple is quite clean, albeit a bit thick. I have to give this one a bonus point for the green fading tint on the inner frame and bridge; a nice touch.



Second to last is the Yardstick 3.0 back in Olive Tortoise. Although this frame somehow does not have quite the same green "punch" as the others in Olive Tortoise :-( . This one does not have a full frame, but it has an advantage of most plastic full frames: no metal on the bridge (so uncomfortable). The temple is nice and clean, and the overall frame give it a hint of 50's horn-rimmed glasses flair.



Finally there's the Yardstick 1.0, the only one on this list that isn't in a green derivative color, in Black Horn. This one wasn't available in Olive Tortoise, which is disappointing. But the swirling, fading effect that it does have is quite cool. Almost like it was carved out of stone. This is a smaller, less squared version of the Yardstick 3.0 (which has a lot going for it, in terms of style). This may be a good choice based solely on fit.



Once again though... I can't decide.

I am looking for some input here. Which one do you like the most? Have a better choice?

Let me know.

...this is creepy:


Explanation:

Apparently they are now manufacturing cosmetic contact lenses with extra large print of the iris, giving the distinctive anime look.

Anyone else find this just plain scary?

Everyone remembers Mystery Science Theater 3000 right?

Of course you do.

Well, the original creator and host of MST3K, Joel Hodgson, has re-assembled his crack team of writers/commentators from the golden years of the show and has now defribulated the series back to life.

He calls it: Cinematic Titanic.

As of today he and his team have completed 3 movies; complete with YouTube trailers.

The Oozing Skull:
(apparently a different title from the original film due to licensing issues)




Doomsday Machine:



Wasp Woman:



I have not seen any of these film riffs in their entirety however, the trailers alone are uncontrollably funny.

As soon as they get more copies of The Oozing Skull, and I get more money to spend, I will be buying all three of these films.

Eden.

PixelJunk Eden to be precise.

I purchased this game a couple days ago and I have to say it is marvelous.

Basically you are this little ninja-troll like creature that needs to collect plant essence called spectra in order to make your own "eden". You go into various gardens and you attempt to find these elusive seeds of life. To do so, you will need to use your agility and your handy silk rope (I like to think of it as ninja rope) to attack the massive spores that are floating around to release their pollen. Once the pollen is released it will rush to the nearest seed to pollinate it. Once the seed has absorbed enough pollen it is ready to sprout which requires a kick-start by you touching it. These seeds will grow new plants which allows you to reach higher places, more seeds and more plants. Eventually you will reach a spectra and the process starts all over again...

OK, so maybe it isn't so simple to explain, but it is a really simple game, and addicting as hell.

The art style in this game is stunning. A single, bright, vibrant color represents all known material in the gardens you visit, while a the background is a different color for contrast. Thats it. 2 colors.

The music is where this game really shines though. The entire game is has a soundtrack by some trance dj named Baiyon. Not a lot to say here other than you have to like trance music if you are going to like this game.

Check it out:

I realize that I may be a bit late to the party but I just have to say that WiiConnect24 sucks.

Me and my best friend have spent the last two hours trying everything to get Super Smash Bros. Brawl to allow us to connect in a friends only match. Here are the steps I went through:

1. Re-adjust Wii Internet Settings to match those of my router
2. Attempt to connect to WiiConnect24.
3. Fail
4. Double check everything and goto 2.
5. Goto 4, 10 more times
6. Give up and reset my router to use WEP instead of WPA for wireless security
7. Re-adjust Wii Internet Settings
8. Works first time
9. Launch Brawl
10. Open WiiConnect24 Menu
11. Attempt to join friends game
12. Fail with error code: 86420
13. Goto 10, 10 more times
14. Give up and start searching the web for answers
15. Attempt to use port forwarding to forward ports 27900 and 29900 to the Wii (as recommended)
16. Retry Connection
17. Fail
18. Goto 16, 10 more times
19. Get pissed, give up
20. ...
21. NO FUCKING PROFIT

This is an unbelievable amount of effort only for it to end in failure. The worst part about it, even using all the fucked up settings that I ended up putting on my router, I was able to connect to a "With Anyone" match with no issues.

What. The. Fuck.

I bought Soul Calibur 4 yesterday quite conflicted.

On one hand they but in Darth Vader, Yoda, and The Apprentice for no other reason but to add more characters to the roster without having to think about it at all. Plus, lets be honest, any one of these three would wipe the floor with the rest of the SC4 cast; They have lightsabers for fucks-sake! On the other hand, they did develop 2 completely new characters (3 if you count the new boss).

The gameplay is solid. It is slower than the previous two Soul Calibur games and it is visually up to snuff with everything else out there. They added new gameplay mechanics like the armor zones which can be destroyed with repeated attacks and the critical finish, which for all intents and purposes is a finishing move a la Mortal Kombat.

But there is a major problem with Soul Calibur 4 and it has to do with the girls of SC4.

That Crazy CS Major has caused me to start looking at the way that women are shown in various mediums in a different way.

Before, I wouldn't have blinked twice at the latest Edge Shave Gel Commercials. Now, I can't help but think about how fucking ridiculous it all is. Instead of making a superior product and backing it up with some scientific proof, they simply put women in booty shorts and have them dance around in party that spontaneously pops up in your nose or spray whipped cream all over each other.

How the fuck did this happen?

Don't get me wrong, while it is visually appealing, when you realize what is actually going on here, it is just insane.

Which brings me back to SC4.

What the fuck is this shit?


When I first saw this months ago, I simply laughed. How can that be considered a proper getup for going into weapons battle? As silly a notion as that is, seeing it in action however takes it from distasteful to offensive. And this is just one example. Others include:

• Seong Mi-Na, Cassandra, and Tira now prance around in a fully exposed thong
• Xiangua is in booty shorts
• Setsuka has an exposed bra
• Sophitia wears a sheer dress with no armor
• Amy is a full-blown lolita
• Talim has see-thru pants (she's supposedly 15)
• Taki still has her skin tight jumpsuit (with no bra)

Now to the games defense, there are alternate costumes (some with more coverage than others). Plus there are customizable costumes that you can make with armor. The problem is, the dev. team didn't put a ton of effort into the extra clothing items. So instead of clothes becoming "tattered" they simply explode off the character leaving them fighting in their bras and panties.

The only exception to the rule is Hilde:

Full plate armor, armed a spear and a shortsword... fuck.

She means business.

Now, let's be clear here. I wouldn't say that I am a feminist. I am just asking for a bit of realism here people. If a game is about sword-fighting, I would expect these characters to be properly prepared for a damned sword-fight. I think that feminists are just asking the same thing; the sane ones anyway. :-)